Live Alive: Fireheart's Story
by gamer4
Summary: Shadowclan's been acting more hostile than usual lately, and it's up to everyone's favorite three warriors to find out the truth behind why. Part of the Live Alive mini-series!


Gamer4 in! Welcome, once again, (or for the first time, if this is the first story you're reading,) to my mini-series, _Live Alive! _For those not in the know, I've been writing a mini-series, here, involving multiple short stories, identified by beginning with _Live Alive. _Each story takes place in a different time, place, and belonging to a different fandom. They can be read two ways- as individual stories, or, if you read them together, you can take note of the connections that make them a mini-series, rather than just random oneshots. Today, the mini-series visits the land of _Warriors_! Ah, _Warriors, _a series that started so simply, then spun so wildly out of control. Would anyone today believe that _Into the Wild _was supposed to be a stand-alone book, with the hook involving Tigerclaw being more of an 'and the adventure continues' rather than an actual sequel hook? Then it was a trilogy, then six books, and now we have five fracking _seasons_ (what? I call them seasons- I'm not going to apologize,) along with several arcs' worth of mangas, more standalone novels, and field guides! While I'm not complaining, mind you, as it's among my favorites, today, we hearken back to a simpler time, back when, as far as we knew, the whole series was just _Into the Wild, Fire and Ice, _and _Forest of Secrets. _Hope you enjoy! Let's get started!

Disclaimer: I'm not Erin Hunter. Yeah, I know, there are four, but I don't call myself Gamer4 because I'm secretly four people, I do it because I like the number four. As such, I don't own Warriors, nor do I own _Live A Live, _the Squaresoft game this mini-series is based on. And, just because, I'll note that I did _not _write the book that this story's title is based off of- it's a book my dad used to read me as a kid, including a scene similar to something in this chapter.

Live Alive

Fireheart's Story

The Singing Cave

Bluestar stood poised on the hill, glancing back to make sure all her warriors were present. Satisfied that they were, she gave a twitch of her tail, beckoning them onwards, and led the way down into Fourtrees.

"About time!" meowed a gray cat running alongside another with fiery orange fur. "Always love a good gathering, huh, Fireheart?"

"You bet," Fireheart agreed. "The one night that the clans can meet in peace."

"Well, unless we can't keep the truce- and let's face it, we never do," the gray cat noted with a mischievous grin.

"You're not planning on making that prophecy self-fulfilling, are you, Graystripe?" Fireheart asked, eyeing his friend suspiciously.

"Who, me?" Graystripe asked, putting on his most innocent face. "Perish the thought!" A second later, he added, "But in all seriousness, no. I like peace as much as the next cat- and much more," he added, as Tigerclaw, the deputy of their clan, passed by, "than others."

"I wonder who you're talking about," Fireheart commented drily.

"The world may never know," Graystripe grinned.

XXXX

It seemed, initially, an ordinary gathering, with the clans mingling at first before the leaders would stand to say what they had to say. Shadowclan was being a little standoffish, but nobody really considered that strange- Shadowclan had a reputation for being the most reserved clan, earned or otherwise.

Finally, the leaders called the meeting to order from on top of the Great Rock, and began taking turns giving their news for the moon. Bluestar, Tallstar, and Crookedstar all reported the usual good tidings- Fireheart reflected that the clans didn't typically report anything _but _good tidings, unless they thought they could get something out of reporting anything else. Aside from that, the leader could be the only member of the clan who'd actually turned up, with every other member of his or her clan dying from black cough, the most feared disease in the forest, and they would still report everything as being just fine, even if they had to choke the words out between coughings-up of blood. However, it had been a generous greenleaf, so, for the moment, when the other clans said they were doing 'just fine,' Fireheart was willing to grant them the benefit of believing them.

Everything changed, as so many things seem to, when Nightstar, the current leader of Shadowclan, stepped forward to say his piece: "Shadowclan... needs more land. We seek, at this gathering, to extend our borders."

Fireheart's mouth dropped as he turned to stare at the Shadowclan leader. It wasn't often that a clan leader made such a brash demand at a gathering- and the last time that one had hadn't exactly been a time of peace. Looking around, the young tom could tell that he wasn't the only one recalling that time- in particular, Windclan was suddenly looking extremely skittish- last time Shadowclan had developed a craving for territory, they'd definitely been the biggest losers.

Bluestar, ever the peacemaker, stepped forward. "A brash demand, Nightstar," she mewed. "What has brought this need for new land upon your clan?"

Nightstar took a moment to reply, and as he did, every word he spoke seemed to be weighed carefully. "Shadowclan has been having more and more kits as of late. We find ourselves in the unfortunate position of requiring more land to feed our hungry mouths than we have. And thus, I make my request."

Fireheart's ears pricked. There was a tone in Nightstar's voice that he recognized all too well- he was lying.

"What a load of fox dung." It seemed Graystripe agreed. "That's the same line Brokenstar was spewing all those moons ago, and much good it did him!"

Graystripe was certainly not alone in these dark mutterings- they were being echoed on the lips of many other cats around the clearing. Fireheart, however, kept his eyes trained on Nightstar- it may have been his imagination, but was he hearing a note of fear in the leader's voice?

Nightstar turned to Crookedstar. "Once," he stated, "Riverclan promised Shadowclan a portion of its territory when we were in a time of need. I appeal to you now to fulfil that debt."

Crookedstar shook his head. "You know as well as I do the circumstances behind that agreement," he meowed. "Riverclan will not fulfill an agreement made with teeth at our throats."

Abruptly, there was a growl from further down on the Great Rock as Blackfoot*, Shadowclan's deputy, made his views heard. "If it's teeth at your throat you want, that can easily be arranged."

"Blackfoot," Nightstar meowed warningly, but it was too late- the damage had been done.

"If you want to take territory by force, Blackfoot, then you're welcome to try!" Tigerclaw growled, unsheathing his absurdly long claws. "But I warn you, you may not like what you find."

"The same goes for Riverclan," growled Leopardfur, Riverclan's deputy. "We will not allow Shadowclan to spread out as they did before!"

Within seconds, regardless of the leaders' intentions, the cats below them were involved in a yowling match, everyone trying to make their own views heard. It was only when Bluestar raised her voice as loud as she possibly could that order managed to be restored. "SILENCE!" she yowled. Slowly, the noise died down, and everyone looked to the Great Rock once more.

"Need I remind you all that this is a _gathering?_" Bluestar continued, glaring down at the cats below. "A time of _peace?_ If we wish to make war on each other, let's not do it at a place chosen by Starclan as a place of sanctuary!"

"Perhaps," Tallstar spoke, "it would be best if we ended the gathering now."

A quick consultation with the other leaders, and Tallstar's motion was passed- the cats began to filter out of the clearing, returning to their own territories.

"Well, that went well," Fireheart muttered.

XXXX

The moment Fireheart and Graystripe entered Thunderclan's camp, Sandstorm stepped up to them. "Well, don't keep me in suspense. What happened out there?"

Fireheart turned to the pale ginger she-cat- she hadn't been chosen to go to the gathering, prompting Fireheart and Graystripe to promise that they'd tell her what happened immediately upon returning.

"Well, things were going great- at first," Graystripe began. "But then-"

"Those miserable pieces of fox dung!" came a shout, and all three cats turned to see Tigerclaw storming through the camp's entrance, following Bluestar towards her den. "How dare they make such outrageous requests!"

"Not so much," Fireheart finished his friend's thought.

"Who demanded what?" Sandstorm asked.

"Well, Shadowclan thought it would be a good idea to request that the other clans give them some of their territory," Fireheart explained.

Sandstorm closed her eyes. "I bet everyone loved that."

"Oh, they did," Graystripe agreed. "They were yowling their praises to Starclan."

"Why, though?" Fireheart wondered out loud. "I mean, you'd think the memory of what happened last time they tried would still be fresh in their minds- why would they risk asking something like that again?"

"They're Shadowclan," Sandstorm shrugged. "Who knows why those cats do anything?"

Fireheart shook his head. "No, there's something more to it- there was something about Nightstar- he seemed almost... scared."

"So, you're saying that he demanded that the other clans give Shadowclan more territory... because he's scared?" Graystripe asked.

"I don't know," Fireheart shook his head again. "It's just... call it a gut feeling, but I feel like there's more to this."

"Yeah, and I wish I could forget the last time you had a gut feeling," Graystripe muttered.

XXXX

The next day, the three cats were on the usual patrol around the clan's borders. After Shadowclan's proclamation the previous night, Bluestar had ordered them to take special care around their border with said clan. As well, it turned out, as she should have, for one of the first things that happened upon approaching Shadowclan territory was that Sandstorm picked up a scent that wasn't of her own clan.

"What is it?" Fireheart asked as Sandstorm bent over, sniffing. "What do you smell?"

"Shadowclan cats," she muttered. "This way!"

Fireheart and Graystripe followed her as she suddenly broke into a sprint across the territory. When they arrived, sure enough, they found a small patrol of Shadowclan cats, two warriors and two apprentices, stalking through the woods on their side of the border. Fireheart recognized the warriors as Blackfoot and Cinderfur, but couldn't place the apprentices.

"Go get some more warriors," Fireheart whispered to Sandstorm. "You're the fastest runner."

"And you?" Sandstorm asked.

"I'll try to talk it out, but I have a feeling things won't go that well," Fireheart muttered. With a quick nod, Sandstorm turned and dashed off.

Fireheart and Graystripe stepped out of the brush they'd been hiding in. "What do you think you're doing, Blackfoot?" Fireheart started.

Blackfoot turned, anger in his eyes. "Hunting. What does it look like?" he growled.

"This is Thunderclan territory," Fireheart pointed out. "Or didn't you realize?"

"I don't know, Fireheart," Graystripe spoke up, humor appearing in his eyes. "It _is_ a pretty thin boundary, I can't really blame them for crossing it by accident. I mean, it's only a thunderpath, after all, it's a mistake anyone could make!"

"You really think you're funny, don't you?" Cinderfur growled.

"For my part," Graystripe shrugged.

Fireheart shook his head. "Why?" he asked. "Why don't you tell us the truth- why do you _really _need territory so much? You wouldn't risk doing something like this again so soon after Brokenstar- why now?"

"We have no choice!" squeaked one of the apprentices, a young tom with dirty brown fur. "We don't have much prey on our territory because of the-"

"Bad timing, Grasspaw," interrupted the other apprentice- a slightly older-looking she-cat with a much lighter pelt.

"But Tallpaw!" Grasspaw interjected. "They might be able to help!"

"Help?" Blackfoot scoffed. "Shadowclan doesn't need help from filthy Thunderclan-"

The rest of his words were drowned out by a long, furious yowl, and everyone spun around to see another patrol of cats rushing forward, led by Tigerclaw. "This is Thunderclan territory!" the large tabby shouted furiously, fire in his eyes. "Can't you mouse-brains see that?!"

The Shadowclan warriors prepared to fight, only for Tigerclaw to plow right through them, tackling the apprentice, Tallpaw, across the ground, where he proceeded to tear at her throat.

"Tallpaw! NOOOOO!" Grasspaw cried, running over to her. "Get away from her, get away!"

Blackfoot let out a furious yowl of his own, charging forward and knocking Tigerclaw away from the apprentice, but, from the looks of things, it was already too late. Blackfoot turned to glare at Tigerclaw. "You monster!" Shadowclan's deputy growled. "Does Thunderclan have no sense of the warrior code?!"

"Get off of our territory before there's any more loss on your end," Tigerclaw growled back.

Blackfoot looked furious, but he was currently outnumbered, five Thunderclan warriors to two Shadowclan warriors and a grieving apprentice, so he beckoned them to leave. Grasspaw, still sobbing, began to drag Tallpaw's body away from the hunting ground.

The thudding of paws signified the arrival of still more cats- Fireheart turned to see Bluestar herself approaching, with Whitestorm and Sandstorm in tow.

"I got some help-" Sandstorm panted, only to freeze as she took in the scene. "What- what happened?"

XXXX

"Well, this is it," Fireheart muttered to Graystripe and Sandstorm later on. "It looks like Tigerclaw's going to get his wish- there's no way Shadowclan will take the death of one of their apprentices lightly."

"You don't think they'll go to war with us, do you?" Graystripe asked.

"Hard to say, but I certainly wouldn't count it out," Fireheart shook his head hopelessly.

"You three!" came another cat's voice, and they turned to see Whitestorm approaching. "Bluestar wants to see you in her den."

Blinking, Fireheart stood and led his comrades into the leader's den.

Bluestar was pacing restlessly around th small cavern. She turned when she heard them approaching. "Come in, come in," she muttered quickly.

"You asked to see us?" Sandstorm was the first to speak.

"Yes, I did," Bluestar agreed. "You three were the ones to locate that Shadowclan patrol earlier, were you not?"

"We were," Fireheart agreed.

"Before Tigerclaw showed up, did they say anything... strange?"

"Well, I'm not in the best place to say," Sandstorm admitted. "I was running back here for help- it's really those two that did the talking."

"We didn't really get much in before the tiger showed up," Graystripe explained. "I remember Fireheart asking them about why they're really doing this, but they didn't really get the chance to answer..."

"No, wait!" Fireheart interjected, remembering something. "That apprentice, Grasspaw- he managed to get something out... something about there being less prey on Shadowclan territory, for some reason..."

"I believe his exact words were, 'We have no choice, we don't have much prey on our territory because of the-'" Graystripe recalled. "He didn't get much further than that."

"Then there's something on Shadowclan territory causing a shortage of prey?" Bluestar asked, eyes fixed on them.

"Well, we can't really know for sure, but that's what it sounds like," Fireheart agreed.

"I want to know for sure," Bluestar shook her head. "We _need _to know for sure. If we don't understand what's really going on here, we risk going to war at a time when we really can't afford to do so- and against a clan that can afford it no more than we can."

A moment of silence passed. Finally, Bluestar seemed to come to a decision. "That in mind," she meowed, "I want you three to go on a patrol to Shadowclan territory. Find out what's causing them to act in this manner, and report back. Do nothing else until we have a full picture of what's happening- we can decide what to do next from there. Understand?"

"Yes, Bluestar," the three warriors agreed.

"Very well," Bluestar mewed. "It would be best to get this done tonight, under cover of darkness. The less Shadowclan knows about this, the better."

The three nodded one last time, and left. First, they each took a piece of fresh-kill from the pile for some extra stamina, then, one by one, they crept out of the camp.

XXXX

None of the three knew what they were going to find as they crossed Thunderclan territory towards the border with Shadowclan. They remained quiet even on their own territory, and faded into absolute silence once they'd crossed the border.

Now came the tricky part- getting to Shadowclan territory was all well and good, but they didn't even know what they were supposed to be looking for. All they knew was that there was something on this territory causing a shortage of prey- they didn't have the slightest idea what that thing may be. Sandstorm was tracing all the smells she could, but, the territory being alien to her, it was hard to pick out one strange scent from another.

Abruptly, Fireheart thought he heard something. Bending low to the ground, he beckoned the others to him with his tail. "You two!" he chanced a loud whisper. "Over here- I think... there's something here..."

Graystripe and Sandstorm gathered to him, listening with their ears pricked. It was true- it was very faint, but they thought they could hear the heavy breathing of something much larger than a cat, seemingly beneath their paws.

"Well, look what we have here," came another voice, and they almost jumped out of their pelts as they spun to see Blackfoot standing there, glaring at them. "And here I thought Thunderclan warriors were too soft to seek war. For soft peace-lovers, you seem pretty eager to start something."

"Blackfoot," Fireheart spoke. "Think about what you're doing..."

"You _dare,_" Blackfoot growled as he approached, "to appear on our territory after what you did? After killing one of our apprentices?!"

"That wasn't us!" Graystripe objected. "We wanted to settle things peacefully, it's Tig-"

"And just when I thought Thunderclan could sink no lower," Blackfoot continued growling, the anger in his voice increasing by the second. Fireheart's heart sank- the Shadowclan deputy was beyond reason at this point.

"Blackfoot," Sandstorm spoke up, giving diplomacy a shot anyways, "why don't you just tell us about this thing that's on your territory? We'd be glad to help-"

Wrong words.

"Shadowclan doesn't need any help from the likes of you!" the warrior yowled, pouncing forward and knocking Fireheart to the ground.

The ground didn't seem to like this, as it suddenly began to give way. "Wh- what the-" Graystripe gave a surprised jump. The ground, increasingly unstable with the impact it had suffered, began to crumble beneath the cats' feet, sending them tumbling down, down, down...

Finally, all four cats landed in a heap at the bottom of a cavern of some sort. Looking around, Fireheart could see the stars shining above them, giving some small amount of illumination to the cave they'd fallen into.

"What... was... that?" Graystripe panted, pulling himself to his paws. "Did your clan set that up as a trap?" A question clearly directed at Blackfoot.

"No..." Blackfoot coughed through a mouthful of dirt as he climbed to the feet that gave him his name. "I... I've never seen this place either."

"Where are we?" Sandstorm muttered as she pushed Fireheart off of her.

"Kind of obvious," Fireheart noted. "Looks like there's a cave down here that Shadowclan didn't know about."

Suddenly, his ears pricked as he heard the growling from earlier, now accompanied by clear footsteps. Blackfoot's eyes widened with fear. "No... this... it can't be..."

"What is it?" Sandstorm asked, noticing.

"We have to get out of here," Blackfoot spoke with a sudden sense of urgency. "We can settle this later, for now, we need to run!"

"What is it?" Fireheart repeated Sandstorm's question. "What's going on here?"

Blackfoot sighed. "Okay, look, about half a moon ago, a creature came onto our territory- a monster that's been killing our prey, and maiming our cats. A monstrous, blue-eyed beast."

"A beast?" Graystripe asked. "What kind of beast are we talking about? Badger, fox, what is it?"

"Like a fox," Blackfoot muttered, "but worse. So, so much worse. And I think... I think we've just landed in its den."

Graystripe's eyes widened. "Okay, Fireheart, it's causing me physical injury to say this, but I think I agree with Blackfoot on this one- let's high-tail it out of here."

"Too late..." Fireheart noted, staring, wide-eyed, at something over Graystripe's shoulder. "It's already here."

Slowly, the other three turned to see the creature stepping out of the darkness. It did, indeed, resemble a fox, but much larger, and with the wrong color of fur- it was a strange, unnatural shade of blue, matching its wide, furious-looking eyes as it glared down at them.

"Holy Starclan!" Sandstorm gasped out. Fireheart agreed- from what part of the forest did a creature like this come from?

Nervously, Graystripe backed up. "Hey, friend, how's it going?" he commented, eyes fixed on the creature glowering down at them. "Didn't mean to drop in on you like this..."

The beast's eyes betrayed even more fury, until it lunged forward, biting for Graystripe, who swiftly leapt backward out of the way.

"No choice!" Blackfoot growled angrily. "Looks like we'll _have _to fight our way out!"

Sandstorm was just as terrified as everyone else, but did her best not to show it as she leapt forward, attacking the beast from the side, nipping at its ankles. The creature roared in anger, turning to face her, only to twist around again as Graystripe took to biting at its hind legs. Blackfoot dove under the beast and began raking at its soft belly, as Fireheart leapt up and clenched his teeth onto the beast's tail. The beast seemed to be going berserk at the assault from so many cats at once, desperately twisting around, trying to catch one of them in its fearsome teeth, or strike them with its heavy paws.

Sandstorm raised herself up and drove her teeth as far into the beast's leg as it would go, feeling her teeth scrape against bone. The beast howled even louder, spinning to try and catch her, only for Graystripe to follow her example with the hind leg on the opposite side. Blackfoot leapt out from under the creature and charged into it as hard as he could. With two legs so heavily injured, the beast's balance was thrown off, and it collapsed to the ground, in the ideal place for Fireheart to leap up onto its body, not wasting any time in going directly for the throat and biting down as hard as he could. The beast let out a desperate cry as it felt its neck being penetrated, and began thrashing. However, as blood began to gush from the wound Fireheart had made, the thrashes became twitches, and eventually, even those subsided as the creature lay still for good.

XXXX

As it happened, it wasn't a far run from where they'd landed to the mouth of the cavern, where, presumably, the beast had exited its den to wreak its havoc. As they exited, the three Thunderclan cats turned to Blackfoot. "So... what now?" Fireheart was the first to ask.

"What now?" Blackfoot wondered, looking at the stars. "Well, I go back to Shadowclan and give them the good news. Life goes back to normal- thank Starclan."

"I think he meant, what now _between us_," Graystripe pointed out.

Blackfoot turned to glare at them. For a moment, they tensed, wondering if he was going to start another fight, but he ultimately turned his back on them. "You three go back to your clan and report to your leader, and we pretend this never happened. I don't want to see you on this territory again, understand?"

"We understand," Sandstorm meowed, nodding respectfully. Finally, they went their separate ways.

As they dashed back across the Thunderpath and into Thunderclan territory, Graystripe finally let out a scoff. "Ungrateful mousebrain," he muttered. "And how much you want to bet he doesn't even mention that we helped him out?"

"Not that he really can," Sandstorm pointed out. "Shadowclan has to keep their pride, after all."

"Yeah, well, isn't that what started this whole mess in the first place?" Graystripe retorted.

"You know..." Fireheart mused, "that's... a good point. If Shadowclan had just come out and said that there was something like that on their territory, this could have all been over a lot sooner."

Sandstorm shook her head. "But no, they felt the need to hide it to save a bit of face."

Fireheart didn't want to start an argument, and thusly remained silent, but he could help thinking, _But is Thunderclan really so different?_

"Anyways, let's hurry back," Graystripe continued. "All that fighting took a lot out of me."

"Same here," Sandstorm agreed. "I could use a nice, long sleep."

"Sleep? Who cares about sleep?" Graystripe asked, eyes widening. "I'm starving!"

"Oh, why don't you just eat the whole fresh-kill pile?" Fireheart asked, playfully giving his friend a bat at the ears. He was feeling much better now that everything was over, and peace was, for the moment, restored. For his part, he was with Sandstorm- all he wanted at that moment was to lay down and get some nice, peaceful rest.

_XXXX_

_*_Before anyone calls foul, yes, I'm aware Blackfoot wasn't part of Shadowclan at this time, but I like the character, bipolar as he may be, and he fits in with a character from the source material, so present he is.

And it is complete! Ah, Warriors, it's been a while since I wrote for you. Kind of funny- earlier on in my career (of writing for this site), most of what I wrote was for Warriors. I don't know what it is about this series that just lends itself to so many fan works, but... well, there you go. Anyways, thus ends another chapter of the _Live Alive _saga- though, of course, this is also the end of this story, should you only want the _Warriors _side of things. If you want a little more _Live Alive, _though, there are eight more stories, four of which are already written, and four more still on the way- wow, halfway done. Anyways, whether it's in another _Live Alive _story, or in another story altogether, one way or another, see you guys then! Please R&amp;R, constructive criticism embraced, flames, not so much, Gamer4 out!


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